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This just in …

MGM Resorts International is all over the news today. It just made a play for BetMGM partner Entain. It’s offering a stock swap of six-tenths of a share of MGM for every share of Entain, a transaction that Credit Suisse analyst Ben Chaiken values at $11 billion. “Entain has informed MGM that it thinks the offer significantly undervalues the company and future growth,” Chaiken continues. He called the increased commitment by MGM to online sports betting and to i-gaming (a party to which MGM was late) a “clear positive” but adds that the proposed deal is “not particularly needle moving to MGM as part of the overall conglomerate. It sounds like Entain has asked MGM to come back to them with more robust rationale for the business combination, and presumably a higher offer.”

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Slow news day

It’s nice to see that the Las Vegas Golden Knights are set to return to the ice … but with Covid-19 positivity rates in Nevada having just passed 21%, is this any time for companies like MGM Resorts International to be touting—or even contemplating—pool season? For that matter, why has Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) seemingly gone into hiding during this dumpster fire?

In other sports news, the Las Vegas Raiders were dealt the ultimate diss by Fox Sports, which didn’t even bother to post score updates on its ticker of the Silver and Black’s exceedingly narrow but meaningless win over the Denver Broncos, which enabled the Raiders to end the season at 8-8, salvaging pride but little else.

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Quote of the Day

“It is difficult to conceive of a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of state-certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans. The fact that this effort will fail does not mean it will not do significant damage to American democracy.”—former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

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2020: Rise of the Machines

by James Grosjean

Count me among the Netflix drones who loved The Queen’s Gambit (2020), but I’ve always been a chess enthusiast. During my college years, I probably ate a thousand chocolate croissants while watching the quirky, magnificent Murray Turnbull (aka “The Chess Master”) take on all comers in the town square—“$2, refund if you win or draw.” It was my honor to capture a photo of the great Karpov framed by the stained glass of Memorial Hall when he did a 40-board simul on campus. I was part of the student press when Kasparov made his then-controversial statement that a computer would be grand champion before a woman would be.

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Quote of the Day

“In these United States, when someone loses an election according to the constitutional processes, he is obligated to accept the loss. Otherwise, we live in lawless anarchy. Rejecting anarchy, and accepting the dictates of the Constitution, is no less than what [Sen. Ben Sasse (R)] says: It is ‘what self-government requires.'”—from a Washington Examiner editorial.

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A Life Changing Book

Someone recently mentioned that one of the characters in the book, The Ultimate Edge, was based on himself. This book, written by Mark Billings, talks about blackjack in the 80s. It includes some insider tips that I haven’t seen elsewhere and ends with a discussion of the main characters’ best play.

I read the book in preparation for a Gambling with an Edge visit from the author on April 4, 2013 and came across one tiny throwaway section that has brought a lot of fun to my life. I wrote about it back then, but since I’m sure many of my readers didn’t read that particular column 7½ years ago, I’ll repeat the fun part here.

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Since You Asked—The Price Is Right

I’m a huge fan of “The Price Is Right.” In fact, I’ve traveled to California several times to try to get on the show. I got to see both Bob Barker and Drew Carey, but alas, I’ve never been picked to come on down.

If you don’t want to go to California, or if you’re in Vegas anyway, you can get a good taste of “TPIR” at Bally’s Jubilee Theater, with the stage version of the show (when it’s running; currently, it’s not).

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“I Hate Stations,” She Said.

In January of this year, I was preparing to teach a video poker class at the South Point. As is my custom, once I got set up, I went around to chat with the students before the class began.

One lady I had never seen before seemed to be a friend of a frequent student. She told me her name and proclaimed, “I hate Stations!”

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Am I the Favorite?

The following email was sent to [email protected]. The correct answer, although not that difficult, has too much math for a podcast. So, I’m addressing it here.

I play full pay Jacks or Better (99.54% return), exclusively. I play $1 denomination at max bet for $5 a hand. The casino that I usually play at gives me, at minimum, $90 worth of free play once a week. For cash back, $5 coin-in on video poker earns one point. One thousand points is equal to $1 in value.

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Since You Asked — Hash House A Go Go

Continuing my theme of Las Vegas food institutions, this post pays homage to Hash House A Go Go.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with it, whether it’s the location on the Strip (the Linq), downtown (the Plaza), off-Strip (the Rio or West Sahara Avenue), local (Summerlin or Henderson), or or one of the several out-of-town locations. In the recent LVA poll on the best locals breakfasts, Hash House A Go Go placed second in the survey, with 13% of the vote; only the venerable Peppermill surpassed it.

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